Dozens of people, including children, were killed in Japan when destructive landslides hit Hiroshima. Triggered by torrential rains, the landslide buried people alive as they slept in their homes. The search for survivors in the mud-ravaged hillside continues as over 50 people are feared missing. --Leanne Burden Seidel (26 photos total)

This aerial view shows the damage caused by a landslide after heavy rains hit the city of Hiroshima, western Japan, on August 20. At least 39 people were killed and another many were still missing after a huge landslide engulfed homes in western Japan. (JIJI PRESS/AFP/Getty Images)

Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) soldiers and police officers carry the body of a victim in a plastic bag at a site where a landslide swept through a residential area at Asaminami ward in Hiroshima, western Japan, August 20. #

Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) soldiers search for survivors at a site where a landslide swept through a residential area at Asaminami ward in Hiroshima, western Japan, August 20. (Toru Hanai/Reuters) #

Japan's Ground Self Defence Force's rescue workers try to make a route at a landslide site in Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, August 21. About 2,500 rescuers searched for survivors a day after landslides killed 39 people in western Japan following torrential rain, a report said. Seven people were still missing after more than 200 millimetres of rain in three hours pounded the northern part of Hiroshima city. (KIMIMASA MAYAMA/EPA) #

Fire fighters and Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) soldiers search for survivors at a site where a landslide swept through a residential area in Hiroshima, August 22. Heavy rain delayed a search on Friday for more than 50 people believed buried under a deadly landslide on the edge of the Japanese city of Hiroshima, as opposition politicians rounded on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for his handling of the disaster. (Toru Hanai/Reuters) #

Japan's Self-Defense Force members search for survivors in the rubble in a mud-covered residential area Aug. 22. , 2014. Heavy rain showers forecast are raising the risks of further landslides in Hiroshima, hindering efforts to locate the dozens of people missing after hills in several areas collapsed earlier this week. (Kyodo News/Associated Press) #

Family members of missing residents are watching rescue works at a landslide site in Hiroshima, August 21. About 2,500 rescuers searched for survivors a day after landslides killed at least 39 people in western Japan. (KIMIMASA MAYAMA/EPA) #

Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) soldiers search for survivors in the rain, August 22. Heavy rain delayed a search on Friday for more than 50 people believed buried under a deadly landslide on the edge of the Japanese city of Hiroshima, as opposition politicians rounded on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for his handling of the disaster. The death toll currently stands at 39. (Toru Hanai/Reuters) #

Resident evacuees comfort each other in front of a makeshift evacuation center at an elementary school in Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, August 22. The number of those listed as unaccounted for in landslides in the western Japanese city of Hiroshima increased to 51 while rescuers were struggling to find survivors in the disaster-stricken area. (KIMIMASA MAYAMA/EPA) #

Engineers working to restore the railway line at the landslide site in Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, August 22, after all rescue operation were resumed. Authorities confirm at least 39 people dead and raised number of missing people to 52. (KIMIMASA MAYAMA/EPA) #